crafting happiness…

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I finally gave Betty (my sewing machine) some love today after giving her a good, long break. She seemed genuinely happy to be back at work. I better keep her busy so she doesn’t go looking for another job!

This month Michelle asked the Peace circle of do. Good Stitches to make 2 blocks using her scrappy asterisk tutorial . They were super easy & turned out pretty darn cute! I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Things have been quiet on this little blog of mine. I’ve been feeling bad about that.

I’m currently struggling through a strange, frustrating period in my life. I can’t figure out the cause & I am so confused as to why I am having such a hard time. All I really want to do is sit on the couch & stare, like someone in a catatonic state. Creepy! In my pajamas, of course. Sometimes I feel like eating junk, sometimes I have no appetite at all. I can NOT get motivated to accomplish anything. Not sewing, working out, cleaning, leaving the house… Usually if I felt like this, my mind would be aflutter with thoughts & feelings & I would eventually work things out & feel better. But no, I’m like a blank slate inside. No thoughts, just quiet.

Silence.

Maybe it has something to do with the 7 days in a row I’ve had a migraine, maybe it has to do with my Dad’s ATV accident (he’s got broken ribs & a broken collar bone, but he is fine), or maybe it’s something else entirely. Truth is, I have been feeling this coming on for a while now, but haven’t wanted to admit something was weird. I wish I could put my finger on what was wrong.

So, until I feel back to normal things might continue to be a bit quiet here. Hang in there, this too shall pass…

I finished the January quilt for my do. Good Stitches quilting bee! I’m so happy to have this off my list of things to do. Not that I haven’t enjoyed it, I have, it’s just that I have been extra busy or unmotivated lately, so it seems like it took FOREVER.

Do you like the circle quilting?

The back has an aqua hounds-tooth print, Kona ash & medium gray, the yellow is a DS Quilts print, & I used the triangle scraps from the ribbon star block I made for the front.

I really like how this turned out. I was very unsure of how to quilt it, but decided on the circle quilting. It was pretty fun to do, I’m glad I tried it. I will be boxing this up & getting it in the mail soon! I hope some sweet foster child loves this quilt!

Happy Wednesday! The biggest thing I have been working on lately, is a big, fat, crab-a$$ attitude. Not sure why. I want to be positive & happy, productive & inspired. Instead, I am negative, crabby, unproductive, & REALLY uninspired. ANYTHING sets me off, for example…

At the gym on Monday… Ugh. The class schedule has changed for the millionth time in the last year. The changes in the past have been lousy, (my favorite TurboKick instructor quit due to management issues, class times have changed, teachers have come & gone…) but last week my favorite class was removed from the schedule. Yes, removed. It was replaced with a class that is kind-of similar, but not really that fun, plus the instructor is one of the most irritating, condescending people at the gym. She is so irritating to me that I dread the thought of being in the same room with her (if you know me at all, you would know that I can put up with most people, it’s hard to be so annoying I wouldn’t want to be in the same room). Anyway, I thought I would try the class, try to be open-minded, besides my BFF took the class the week before & thought it was good. 5 minutes into the class I wanted to scream. She was teaching everything backwards, saying left, but doing right. It was the most difficult class I have ever taken because I could not follow her! I must have been unable to hide my frustration because she called me out & had me go front & center so I could “see better”. Again, if you know me at all, you would know that I am not the kind of girl who goes front & center in front of everyone, especially when I haven’t the foggiest as to what I am supposed to be doing, so being called out in front of everyone was extremely fun for me. She then spent the rest of the class pointing out everything I was doing wrong. I should have walked out. I wish I would have. But I was trying to be polite & keep trying. Halfway through the class, I decided all my punches should be directed to her face, that made the class worth-while. 🙂 When I got home from the gym, I sent a message to the management about my disappointment about the schedule changes. I hope they change something, or I am quitting.

Sorry! I got all mad all over again! Normally I would have let all that roll off & it wouldn’t have bothered me. I definitely wouldn’t have emailed anyone about it!! So what’s up with my crab-a$$ attitude?? It’s really ticking me off! 🙂

So here is the very small amount I have accomplished lately…

Finished:

Fabric Organization – I finished this up a little while ago, but haven’t had a chance to show it off. I used comic book boards (found them on Amazon) to make mini-bolts out of my fabric! I LOVE & ADORE how neat all my fabric is now! (Well except that I ran out of boards, so my solids & linen aren’t neat & tidy yet…)

In Progress:

January Quilt for do. Good Stitches – Very close to being a finish! I just need to hand sew the binding on. One good TV watching evening should do it!

March blocks for do. Good stitches – I have only gotten as far as cutting out my paper foundations & gathering some scraps for my March blocks. We are using this tutorial to make 8 – 6.5″ blocks, with a red center. I’m looking forward to trying these out next week!

No Progress:

Senja’s Quilt

Cut-Loose Quilt

Machine cover

Summer Sampler

Swoon-along

Christmas Quilt

Orange Triangles

Completed Tops Awaiting Quilting:

Sliced Coins

W’s Brick Quilt

To Do:

March blocks for do. Good Stitches

Quilt for my bed

Shower curtain

Pin cushion for me

Head over to Lee’s Blog, Freshly Pieced, to see what everyone else is working on!

5:30: I realize I still need to get out clothes for the kids, wake them up, eat breakfast, make my lunch, get everything out to the truck, & feed the cat. In 15 minutes… Good thing I packed their back packs the night before.

5:45: Open the door to the garage & see that the light has been on in the truck all night. Luckily it starts.

5:54: Successfully get my kids and all our stuff in the truck & on our way to my awesome friend’s house, to drop off the kids.

5:40: Pull into the garage, get the best greeting from T, hold back tears when I try to stand after sitting for so long. Ouch!

5:45-bedtime: Lay on the couch & crab at everyone because I am tired & emotionally exhausted.

Conclusions from my overtired brain…

My shower & hair were wasted. I wear a hat all day so my hair looks like crap by the end of the day, & the first case of the day I had to wear a lead apron for about 2 hours so I had change my shirt due to all the sweetiness (ewww).

Sleeping that extra 9 minutes only hurt me & put me behind, all day.

9 hours on my feet is too long.

My husband is my hero. He goes to work everyday, drives an hour each way, & most days he comes home with a smile. Maybe he’s just so glad to be out of the car!

Before we start this WIP Wednesday post, let me show you something exciting!

WE GOT SNOW!! Normally I wouldn’t be so excited about snow, but it has been a mostly snow-less winter here in my part of Minnesota. Major disappointment! Last night during dinner, it started to rain, then it quickly turned into sleet. By the time we went to bed, we had maybe 1 inch of snow. This morning I was awoken by the phone ringing with a recorded message from the school district saying that school was cancelled! When I went outside to feed the cat, I had to put boots on! (This is shocking because all winter my kids have been feeding the cat in their bare feet or socks & hanging out with him on the front step & beyond.)We probably got a good 6 inches of snow & it is still coming down!! I called my husband so he could explain how to use the snow-blower & I cleared the driveway! I usually just shovel, but this snow is HEAVY! I wasn’t sure my husband would even be able to get in the driveway when he got home, so I figured I better just bite the bullet. It was actually pretty fun! Anyway, I will be enjoying this snow day playing games with the kids & hopefully doing a little sewing! What are you going to do?

(Let me apologize for the radio silence for the last 2 weeks…Sorry! Life kind of got busy & I made the decision to live my life & enjoy it, instead of stressing about getting a blog post written. That’s okay, right?! 🙂 )

I have almost nothing to show for my long break.But by showing you all almost nothing, I am hoping I get motivated to accomplish something to show you next week!

January Quilt for do. Good Stitches – Last time I talked about this quilt I said, “I am hoping to make big progress on all of that, this week.” …

I made a little progress, but no BIG progress. I’m trimming the star points & the next step is putting all 20 – 4″ blocks together! So, I am close! I find trimming to be mind-numbingly boring, so I set up a little lap table to cut on while I watch TV. As long as I don’t get distracted & cut wrong, it works pretty well! My goal is to finish this quilt by March 15th. (There, I said it, so now I have to do it, right?)

No Progress:

Senja’s Quilt

Cut-Loose Quilt

Machine cover

Summer Sampler

Swoon-along

Christmas Quilt

Orange Triangles

Completed Tops Awaiting Quilting:

Sliced Coins

W’s Brick Quilt

To Do:

March blocks for do. Good Stitches

Quilt for my bed

Shower curtain

Pin cushion for me

Head over to Lee’s Blog, Freshly Pieced, to see what everyone else is working on!

Wednesday, again!? How can that be?! I was exceptionally bad about “journaling” my craftiness these last 2 weeks, (yes, I missed last week because I was so busy bargain shopping!) so good luck to me remembering what I accomplished!!

Finished:

T’s Zig-Zag Quilt –Woo-hoo! All done!! This quilt is on my son’s bed now & every day when I go in his room I see it & smile! 🙂 More here.

February Blocks for do. Good Stitches – These blocks were made following the Scrap Jar tutorial. I am not sure if you noticed it right away, but I did a little light to dark thing in these blocks. See it?

January Quilt for do. Good Stitches – I made the 12″ & 8″ stars I was supposed to make (I wasn’t being lazy, I just wanted to see what everyone else made first, so I could fill in any gaps…). Now I just have to make about 20 – 4″ stars & put the quilt together. I am hoping to make big progress on all of that, this week. Here is a shot of most of the blocks I have from everyone. I can’t wait to see what this one looks like!

No Progress:

Senja’s Quilt

Cut-Loose Quilt

Machine cover

Summer Sampler

Swoon-along

Christmas Quilt

Orange Triangles

Completed Tops Awaiting Quilting:

Sliced Coins

W’s Brick Quilt

To Do:

January quilt for do. Good Stitches

Quilt for my bed

Shower curtain

Pin cushion for me

Head over to Lee’s Blog, Freshly Pieced, to see what everyone else is working on!

I made you all a couple of boxes of chocolate, you know, since it’s Valentine’s day & all. I love you all so much, that I even got you roses! (Oh wait, thoseare mine, but you are welcome to enjoy them too! They smell SO good!! Wait, does that make it sound like I don’t really love you? Because I really, really do. It makes me happy to see comments & likes & views in my stats. They are like little valentines, just for me. Thank you!)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Aren’t they pretty? The quilt blocks boxes of chocolate are for February in my do. Good Stitches Bee. We used the Scrap Jar tutorial. We are all making different colors, so it should end up a bright rainbow-y quilt!

This beauty is the block I made for the January quilt in the same bee. January was my month to plan the quilt & then put it all together, I still have about 20 -4″ squares to make… Ugh. But at least this is done! I used the Ribbon Star tutorial.

The other day I had some Chinese food for lunch. My fortune cookie held 2 fortunes! Interesting, I thought. I was so excited, I wondered if they would be the same, if they held some great wisdom, if this has ever happened to anyone before… But alas. I just needed a double reminder to keep my big mouth shut…